Samsung Galaxy Note 8 rumors: Price, photo, release date, specs

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 could be similar to the Galaxy S8.YouTube/Concept CreatorSamsung is preparing to announce its Galaxy Note 8, according to a recent report from VentureBeat by Evan Blass, who is known for his accurate rumor-mongering from his Twitter account, @evleaks.

Blass reportedly spoke with an individual who was briefed on Samsung’s plans for the Galaxy Note 8.

Galaxy Note fans are surely keen to find any details about Samsung’s upcoming Note 8 smartphone, as the last usable Note phone is the Galaxy Note 5, which was released two years ago back in 2015.

From the rumors, it looks like Galaxy Note fans can look to the Galaxy S8 for an early look at the Note 8. Still, apart from the Note line’s stylus, there are two key differences we’ll be watching out for.

Here’s what we know so far:

So far, the rumors claim that Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 will have a 6.3-inch display, which is barely bigger than the Galaxy S8+.

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Samsung’s Galaxy S8+ has a 6.2-inch display, which is just 0.1 inches smaller than the rumored 6.3-inch screen size of the Note 8 from Blass’ report. That’s somewhat unusual, as Samsung’s Note phones are traditionally significantly larger than Samsung’s Galaxy S phones.

The Galaxy Note 8 is also said to come with a taller screen, just like the Galaxy S8 and S8+.

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The Galaxy S8 phone screens have a unusual 18.5:9 aspect ratio, which makes them taller than the more conventional 16:9 screens on most smartphones. According to Blass, the Note 8 will have the same 18.5:9 aspect ratio as the Galaxy S8 phones.

Samsung has been using the excellent AMOLED technology for its smartphone displays ever since the first Galaxy S phone, which was released back in 2010. Considering that AMOLED displays are still the best displays you can find on a smartphone, it will come as no surprise if Samsung continues to use AMOLED displays in its upcoming Note 8.

The Note 8 will supposedly run on the same powerful processor as the Galaxy S8.

Blass claims the Note 8 will run on Qualcomm’s powerful Snapdragon 835 processor. Some Note 8 models destined for certain markets may run on Samsung’s own Exynos 8895 processor with similar power and performance as the Snapdragon 835.

The Note 8’s fingerprint scanner will apparently be on the back of the phone, just like the Galaxy S8.

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Blass’ report suggests that the Note 8’s fingerpring scanner will be on the back of the phone to the right of the camera, just as it is on the Galaxy S8.

It looks like the Note 8 will have a similar design to the Galaxy S8.

Weibo/MyFixGuide.com

A recent leak posted on Chinese social media site, Weibo, and later re-posted on tech site MyFixGuide.com, supposedly shows the Galaxy Note 8’s design from a Samsung presentation. I’d take this photo leak with a rock of salt, as there’s no link available to the Weibo post, nor does MyFixGuide.com have a history of posting accurate gadget rumors.

The photo suggests that the Note 8 will have similarly ultra-narrow bezels around the screen, as well as curved display edges. It’s hard to tell from the photo whether or not the Note 8’s display will have rounded display corners like the Galaxy S8.

The leaked photo also reinforces the rumors that the Note 8 will come with a dual lens camera.

However, there’s a major discrepancy between Blass’ report and the leaked photo regarding the placement of the fingerprint scanner. Blass claims the scanner will be in the same spot as the Galaxy S8’s scanner – to the right of the camera. However, the leaked photo suggests the scanner will be found underneath the camera.

Samsung isn’t taking risks with the Note 8’s battery size.

The Note 8’s battery will be a “relatively conservative 3300mAh,” according to Blass, which is actually smaller than the Galaxy S8+’s 3,500mAh battery. If true, the Note 8’s smaller battery may be a result of Samsung’s abundance of caution after the Galaxy Note 7 debacle, where its batteries caused several phones to catch fire.

The Note 8 is expected to come with an S Pen stylus.

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We’d be extremely surprised if Samsung ditched the Note line’s S Pen stylus, which lets you easily take notes on the phone’s screen. The S Pen is one of the Note line’s key differentiating features.

Now here come the two features that could set the Note 8 apart from the Galaxy S8. First: a dual lens camera.

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It was somewhat surprising when Samsung announced its Galaxy S8 with a regular, single lens camera. Samsung isn’t a company to shy away from bleeding edge features, and dual lens cameras were certainly a trending feature around the time the Galaxy S8 was announced in April 2017.

With the Note 8, however, Samsung will add a dual lens camera, according to Blass. It’s not clear which path Samsung will take with the Note 8’s supposed dual lens camera, as different dual-lens systems on various smartphones do different things. For example, LG’s G6’s dual lens camera offers ultra-wide angle photos, while the iPhone 7 Plus’ dual lens camera enables features like Portrait mode and enhanced optical zooming.

Second, Samsung could give the Note 8 a performance boost over the Galaxy S8 phones.

Blass claims the Note 8 phones will come with 6GB of RAM compared to the Galaxy S8’s 4GB of RAM. The extra RAM could help make the Note 8 feel a little snappier when opening and running apps, especially if you consistently use a large number of apps.

It’ll be expensive.

The estimated price for the Galaxy Note 8 will be around €999, according to Blass. That translates to almost $1,120, but it’s more likely that cost will be closer to $1,000 if the Note 8’s price prediction is accurate. That would make the Note 8 one of the most expensive smartphones.

It’ll be announced in the second half of September.

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The Galaxy Note 8 will be announced in the second half of September, according to Blass’ conversation with an individual briefed on Samsung’s plans for the device.

Remember, folks, every Galaxy Note 8 detail you see before its official release is just a rumor.

Until a Samsung representative holds up a Galaxy Note 8 during its announcement event, everything you hear or see about the Note 8 should be considered a rumor.